Cloud-based solutions. Virtual enterprise systems. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) assets. Nodes that connect, disconnect, and reconnect themselves over and over. All of those things are becoming increasingly common in a lot of companies across many industries, bringing new challenges to asset management. The median asset base is becoming more and more complex, making the job of monitoring all the IT items much more difficult.
With the increase in the number of devices connected to the main IT network, the need to account for all the points susceptible to cyberattacks is multiplied. Each and every one of these assets represents a potential vulnerability that might be exploited. That justifies the need to improve the visibility of all existing assets within a network, something that autodiscovery can handle extremely well.
What’s Autodiscovery?
As its name implies, it’s a feature that automatically scans the system to detect any device that has been installed as well as identify any IP-enabled device that shares data inside the corporate network. Autodiscovery doesn’t need devices to be connected to the network for a certain amount of time since it can identify any of them as soon as they are connected.
What’s more – sophisticated autodiscovery features allow us to assess the inherent vulnerabilities of any given asset as well as its base configuration. This expands the control and monitoring capabilities the business has over its IT infrastructure. The discovery process aggregates all of the scanned information into a central record that can inform all kinds of decisions when it comes to asset management.
Uses and Applications
In today’s world, virtually all areas in any given company will use at least one IT asset. That means that managing the IT environment is crucial to ensure the proper functioning of daily operations and the business as a whole. That’s why autodiscovery poses itself as a great ally for all kinds of companies, especially the ones with complex IT systems: because it can save effort and time while streamlining routine activities.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg. Autodiscovery can help out with other functions regarding asset management, including:
- Inventory Management: since all assets are automatically scanned and added to a central record, it’s possible to learn the stock and status of any given item easily. Additionally, there’s the possibility to set up alerts that warn when a specific item’s stock is running low.
- Asset Allocation: the record can also contain the information about an asset’s location and future schedule, including downtimes for maintenance. Thus, the IT staff can always know where their assets are and find them more easily when needed.
- License and Warranty Management: among the details included in the record, autodiscovery can be configured to warn about upcoming expiration dates of licenses and warranties for all of the network’s items.
Why Use Autodiscovery
The different asset management possibilities of an autodiscovery-enabled system should be enough to justify its deployment in a corporate setting. However, there are other reasons that can help build a stronger case for it, including:
- Robust Insights: autodiscovery doesn’t just automate asset identification, it also provides substantial details about all the items ever connected to an IT network. This provides a better understanding of the performance of the assets and helps improve their allocation.
- Investment Tracking: since all IT assets represent an investment, comprehending the relationship between costs and performance is key to assess each item’s ROI. Autodiscovery monitors each asset closely and offers aid when deciding which investments are worth it.
- Improved Data Security: continuous improvement and upgrading of assets can lead to improper data backup and subsequent data loss. Autodiscovery allows for cloud integration to automate backups remotely, thus improving the corporate information security and offering a safety net in case errors occur within the system.
- Regulatory Compliance: IT assets in different industries need to comply with diverse regulations. With autodiscovery, any company can learn everything it needs to know about needed upgrades and renewals that allow it to be up-to-date to prevent lawsuits over expired licenses.
Autodiscovery Reshapes IT Asset Management
Corporate tech infrastructures are becoming absurdly complex, which puts a lot of pressure on IT teams in charge of overseeing the overall network’s performance. Thanks to autodiscovery, that job becomes far easier, as many of the most crucial aspects are automated. This greatly improves the operational efficiency of asset management and provides a cost-effective solution for companies of all sizes across diverse industries.
Of course, this can only be brought by seasoned development services that can take the autodiscovery feature and build it into any company’s system. Thus, businesses that want to leverage these automation practices need to rely on experienced .NET developers to come up with custom-made applications that make sense in their own IT environments.
When done right, those applications can help in creating a more robust IT network that’s more protected against attacks, thanks to a deeper knowledge of its own vulnerabilities. This comprehensive view of all things hardware and software are what most modern businesses need to keep their infrastructure secure and running at its maximum capacity.
In short, autodiscovery is an approach that can redefine asset management as it’s known today, thanks to a more efficient take on the job and the help of cutting-edge technologies that can bring discipline to a whole new level.